I love makeup—the colors, the shimmers, and the glitters. I can be creative, beautiful, or even scary if I want to. I think cosplay gives you even more room to be creative. You can go as your favorite movie person, book character, or maybe an anime personification. There are so many characters to be. You could even make up your own OC.
To transform into these wonderful characters, we definitely need the outfit and hair, but we need makeup too. There is so much makeup out there, though. How can you choose? What do you need? I am here to help. I will tell you my favorite products as well as a baseline of tools and makeup products to get you started.
OK, so the first tools that are needed are simple. You will need a wide variety of brushes. Ones to apply foundation and/or body paint. You need to use different ones for both. You also need blending brushes, ones to pack on color, ones that are angles and stiff, and so on. You can get a whole kit of brushes for pretty cheap on Amazon. Here is a link to a set. Blending sponges are a must also. I prefer to apply my foundation with one. Tissues, Q-Tips, and baby wipes are helpful too.
Next is on to the makeup products. To start, you will need a foundation. Body paint may be necessary if your look has colorful skin. Mehron Makeup is highly recommended. For foundation, use what you like using. I personally use Wet n Wild, and it works fine. I always use a setting powder too. Again, mine is Wet n Wild but use what you like.
Next, eyes. There are so many brands out there. It will be hard to choose. My absolute favorite is Urban Decay. They make stuff designed to stay on until you take it off. BH Cosmetics palettes are great too. My first big colorful palette was from them. Makeup Revolution is pretty hit or miss. Their hits are great, but their misses suck. I have their Alexis Stone and Chilled palettes, and I love them both. Color Pop is wonderful too. Nyx is awesome. I use a lot of their products, and they are affordable. Eye shadow can be used for dimension with colorful skin too. Nyx’s felt tip eyeliners are excellent. Urban Decay’s 24/7 eyeliners rock my socks. Also, with eyes, false lashes. There are many styles—fluffy, full ones, more natural, silver, rainbow, and even ones with bats.
Now we are getting into lips. I like lipsticks that are going to stay on. Again, Nyx has some winners. Wet n Wild, Cover Girl, and Revlon are all fantastic too. Personally, I don’t like a regular lipstick. I have to reapply it often. I don’t much care for wearing lip gloss either. Not to mention it breaks down stay-on lipstick. I must admit, though, it looks pretty.
Finally, following lips, we have the cheeks with blush and highlighters. Does your character have pink rosy cheeks or a light flush? Maybe they don’t, but you still want to bring out your cheeks—highlighter to the rescue. Highlighter can be applied to other places too. I put it on my nose, a little on the forehead, and my cupid’s bow. Sometimes I even use it as eye shadow. I love versatile makeup. The blushes I am using right now I will leave pictures of. I don’t know what the brands are. The highlighters am using are a makeup revolution one and Wet n Wild Megaglo.
These are the basics of what you need. You might also want special effects makeup, but that is completely out of my wheelhouse. I am including a YouTube video on the basics of cosplay makeup for you to start with. YouTube has a ton of videos on beginning looks, different styles, different characters, and also hacks. Check them out. I hope this article helped. If you Have questions, let me know in the comments below. As always, have fun storming the castle!
